Busyness

Why It's OK To Stop Pretending To Be Busy

As to how we stop it, your guess is as good as mine. I suppose as a collective of ambitious people we could all just agree to pump the brakes and take it easy. If we're not willing to kill ourselves at a meaningless job or trivial social pursuit, then we could all put in four-hour work days and spend the rest of our time sipping cocktails or watching TV or whatever it is we want to do. I’m all for that, and I’m sure most people would be if they were being honest with themselves.

The problem is that, at some point, someone would defect. They’d realize that if they just did a little more, they’d have that much more of an edge over everyone else. Others would see their “success” and then start to follow, and eventually we’d end up right back where we are now, over-stressed but with little or nothing to show for it.

Some companies address this, or at least pretend to, by making a big production out of something called “work-life balance.” The idea is that happier employees make for better employees, which is true to a point. To facilitate that happiness, they’ll usually offer even low-level employees ample leave time, a company smartphone and a laptop. In theory, a properly equipped employee can work from anywhere, which means less commuting for them and less needed office space for the employer. It’s a great idea, but in practice not so much. A month’s worth of PTO is great until you realize that it’s frowned upon to take it. Being able to work anywhere is great, but it slowly sinks in that an “agile” workforce is one that the employer can contact and put to task literally any time, anywhere. I myself enjoy working from home when I have the opportunity, but it raises questions of its own, like where does work end and home begin? At what point am I able to shut down and relax? Though convenient, working agilely means that there’s no clear indicator as to when it’s OK to close the blinds and stop pretending to be so busy and important.I, like Tim Kreider, am that rare breed of person who is both ambitious yet also lazy, or at least rare in the sense that I allow myself to be lazy sometimes. And, really, I think that’s the ticket. A little selfishness goes a long way. When you force yourself to kick back and take a little “me” time, you in turn force yourself to prioritize your endeavors and initiatives in the time remaining. It’s also important to find like-minded people. There are some folks, were you to get them Joe Namath drunk, who would still respond affirmatively to the question of “Are you really happy living like this?” Some people just can’t fathom feeling fulfilled without spending an awful lot of time doing things that don’t mean an awful lot, not to them or to anyone else.As for me, I think I’ll take myself up on that offer to have a cocktail. Or watch TV. Actually, both sound pretty nice right now.